Thursday, 30 July 2015

Jonathan Pollard – Cruel Injustice.

Why is the US
justice system continuing to punish Jonathan Pollard even as they announce the
date of his incarceration?

Now that he
has served his unjust thirty years prison sentence, they are insisting that he
must remain in the states for a further five years even though his wife lives
in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. This is where he wants to spend the rest
of his life and end his days.

This is double-down
cruel justice by the US Administration heaped on top on an unjust sentence to
begin with.

If you want
to see American injustice, take the Pollard case as a perfect example.

Let’s begin
by studying the crimes that Pollard committed and compare them and his sentence
to other, more dangerous spies for the United States.

The
information he passed to Israel, an ally of America, were details on Iraqi and
Syrian weapons of mass destruction, Soviet arms shipments to Damascus and Libyan
air defenses. These are all enemies of both Israel and America and all
information that the United States withheld from Israel in violation of the
1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Israel.

Simply put, Pollard
did not pass damaging us military secrets. Nor did he compromise, damage or
harm CIA or other US intelligence personnel.
It was all information that America should have delivered to their Main ally
in the Middle East, Israel, according to this agreement, but didn’t!

In truth,
pollard was poorly represented by his legal team, but they did strike a plea
bargain which pointed to a 20 year maximum term, if not less.

In other
words, Pollard came clean but got clobbered with a hugely disproportionate
sentence for spying for an ally, as opposed for spying for an enemy.

Aldrich Aimes,
as an example was convicted in 1994 for spying for Russia. He did betray CIA
sources and several agents were killed as a result of his betrayal.

While Pollard
remained incarcerated, the US handed back to Russia ten Soviet spies, including
Anna Chapman, Donald Howard Heathfield, Tracy Lee Ann Foley, Patricia Mills, Richard
and Cynthia Murphy in a spy exchange with Russia.

Nobody has
been sentenced to such an unjustly long sentence for spying for an ally.
Usually the sentence is less than ten years. It is so outlandish that questions
have been asked. Former CIA Director, James Wolsey, has said that, in his
opinion, that Pollard was being punished excessively because he is a Jew.
Clearly there is a hint of a warning to American Jews about dual loyalties.

There is also
evidence that pollard has been cynically played by the US Administration as a
political hostage, or a pawn, against unfolding events in the Middle East.

Last year, Israel
acceded to demands to release murderous Palestinian terrorists with a Pollard
release as a sweetener. The process was disrupted by obstruction from the PA in
Ramallah. Pollard himself pleaded not to
be traded for Palestinian murderers and terrorists. As such, Pollard exhibited a higher moral
stance than the US Administration.

That Pollard
is a hostage to persuade Israel to make dangerous concessions was divulged by
negotiator, Dennis Ross, in his book ‘The Missing Peace.’ He admitted
that he advised President Clinton against releasing Pollard in the framework of
the 1998 Wye Accords negotiated by Israel’s Netanyahu.

Ross argued
that Pollard was simply far too valuable as a bargaining chip with Israel to be
released so cheaply.

Israeli TV
investigative reporters told Israeli viewers that there is no law on the US
statute books that insist that a released prisoner be retained in the country
and not free to leave America. This is merely the prerogative of the parole
board of the US president.

Going
forward, it is my impression that Jonathan Pollard will continue to be used as
a political tool in the 2016 Presidential Race. If needed, the permission for
Pollard to be allowed to join his wife in Israel will be used for political
gain if it is felt necessary for the Democrats to win over more of the Jewish
vote.

Quite simply,
the details of his incarceration and further post-release punishment of Pollard
is morally repugnant.

It also
serves as an example that the US will defend its perceived best interests even
if that means punishing an ally by not fully supporting Israel as it
should.

It also means
that Israel must defend its own interests for survival even if that means not
relying on our most important and major ally in the world.

Barry Shaw is
the author of ‘Fighting Hamas, BDS and Anti-Semitism.’ He is also the
author of ‘Israel Reclaiming the Narrative.’
Both are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format.